How soon to seperate when pregnant?

Im curious how soon would it be ok to seperate a pregnant female? Shes developing a little pot belly now so im guessing she might be 1.5-2 weeks along. Shes currently in with a 1.4 setup. Id rather not take a chance with the whole communal breeding thing.

Each week during rat cleaning I pull females that are obviously pregnant, if early they go in a tubs with other females, if close to birth they go in a birthing tubs by themselves.

For each female I pull out a new one goes in.

Anyway they get pulled when noticeable.

dont pull em. they stay in the tub with all their friends

Ive heard that leads to a higher possibility of eating there young. I dont breed in large scale so id like to have as little fatalities as possible.

Well if they are first time mothers, expect at least a couple eaten if not all, it's very common for rats to do their first time. I always would pull the male and leave the females in the tub if they were pudgy and noticeably pregnant.

I would move her as soon as you are certain that she is pregnant. No time is too early, but sometimes one day can be too late.

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Originally Posted by tomfromtheshade

I would move her as soon as you are certain that she is pregnant. No time is too early, but sometimes one day can be too late.

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I agree, I've been suprised by a mom going earlier than I expected!

I typically seperate my females for birthing and I only let multiple moms/litters live in the same tub after the first week (once babies are established)and if the pups are the same size. My rats are very friendly with one another and I've seen them assist each other while birthing if females are left together.. very sweet to watch :D

Thanks everyone. Im gonna try leaving them together this time and see what happens. I have an Aunt thats been breeding rats for 16 years and thats how she does it. Ill let everyone know how it works out in the next couple weeks.

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Originally Posted by steveboos

Well if they are first time mothers, expect at least a couple eaten if not all, it's very common for rats to do their first time. I always would pull the male and leave the females in the tub if they were pudgy and noticeably pregnant.

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I have never had a new mom eat her babies, not one baby in well over 100 litters, very common?
I know it happens but you have to suspect bad genetics might be involved.
I've had several 3rd and 4th time moms eat on their babies when they had deformed litters that were still born(gross), but never a new mom.

I pull mine to a birthing rack because I prefer my females not be pregnant while nursing, it takes a few more females to do it this way but the moms seem to stay very healthy throughout their breeding lifespan.

Leaving the whole group together can work fine too, I did that when I first started and had no issues losing babies even with the male left in the group.

i dont have problems with moms eating healthy babies either, only the still borns or ones that die. and i dont ever separate mine, they do just fine in their 1.8 groups. heck, most of the time the dads even help take care of them.